I would like to use non alcohol iodine as my biocide for my cooling loop but I have read that it causes your copper blocks to tarnish into a black colour is this true? Also I would like to stay away from copper sulfate as it speeds up corrosion. Thanks

Copper Sulphate (aka PT_Nuke) is only an issue in higher concentrations. When the correct dosage is used (1 drop/litre), it has a negligible impact on corrosion, and still prevents any issues with algae.

As far as Iodine is concerned, should be okay as well, as long as it's alcohol-free. I've heard it said that Iodine can oxidize metal, but I'm honestly not sure if this is a factor in a watercooling loop.

I would like to use non alcohol iodine as my biocide for my cooling loop but I have read that it causes your copper blocks to tarnish into a black colour is this true? Also I would like to stay away from copper sulfate as it speeds up corrosion. Thanks

STAY AWAY FROM IODINE, I've made this mistake way back when I started WC years ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by enaberif

pt nuke + distilled water

Agreed, the only way to fly, well theres also anything 99.99% silver will work extremely well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MpG

Copper Sulphate (aka PT_Nuke) is only an issue in higher concentrations. When the correct dosage is used (1 drop/litre), it has a negligible impact on corrosion, and still prevents any issues with algae.

Correct, as long as you follow the instructions on the side there will not be any issue with PT Nuke. Only when you over do it will there be issues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MpG

As far as Iodine is concerned, should be okay as well, as long as it's alcohol-free. I've heard it said that Iodine can oxidize metal, but I'm honestly not sure if this is a factor in a watercooling loop.

STAY AWAY, OH GOD THE NIGHTMARES. All joking aside, iodine WILL oxidize and turn the insides of all your blocks black and corrode. Stay away, If you want proof I will try and get come pictures later today of my no longer in use/ruined (garbage because I couldn't clean them) blocks from when I was a WC noob.

Thanks for the help chilly, Im currently conducting a little experiment to see if this theory is correct. Im using a product called Betadine (ingredient povidone-iodine) alcohol free. I have placed a small piece of copper heatsink in a very concentrated iodine. Its been 5days with no sign of any black colour. Btw how many drops of iodine did you put into your loop?

Thanks for the help chilly, Im currently conducting a little experiment to see if this theory is correct. Im using a product called Betadine (ingredient povidone-iodine) alcohol free. I have placed a small piece of copper heatsink in a very concentrated iodine. Its been 5days with no sign of any black colour. Btw how many drops of iodine did you put into your loop?

2 drops of medical grade alcohol free iodine for a whole loop that consisted of 1 Storm G4 block, 1 GPU MCW60 block, a Res, Dual DCC/MCP355 pumps (old school ones orange impeller ones that committed suicide like almost all did ) and a Black Ice 220mm Rad on a S939 4400 X2 and X1900XTX. The loop ran for aprox 8 months untouched, till my pumps died and I had to replace them.

Suffice it to say I was NOT happy when I took apart that loop and saw what had happened. I actually went back to Air Cooling for a little while. I'm sure you can understand why, after the sting of losing $400 worth of WC parts due to the block corrosion and pump failure(kinda a double whammy really). After a bit of googling and learning about XS and reading up, I was kicking my self in the ass for even considering iodine.

That being said I'm sure with enough cleaning I can bring the MCW60 back into service and *MAYBE* the rad, but I gave up hope long ago on those items. For now they sit unused in a shelf somewhere. I wanna stress that this happened over the course of 8 months, with the water/coolant being refreshed about every 3 months. I'm not sure that even in a concentrated "test" you'll see a result without some considerable time.

Long-term oxidation with iodine, huh? Very interesting. I've seen other water systems (non computer related) with iodine and copper parts, and never come across that myself. But I wasn't in a position to know the specifics or observe for a long period of time. Still, I'll file that away for future reference.